


My Skin Is A Canvas Painted With Memories

by TheSadisticMunchkin



Series: Hang In There Josh [3]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Josh Lives, Light Angst, Multi, Wendigo Josh, exorJosh, just a lot of angst but with a nice ending okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 13:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5129918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSadisticMunchkin/pseuds/TheSadisticMunchkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There Ashley stood, the warm lighting of the coffee shop and the soft glow of the sunrise outside the window enveloped her tiny frame. Her red hair, now much curlier than last year, was draped over her shoulders in neat, loose pigtails.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Skin Is A Canvas Painted With Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Just read it

            “She hates me.”

 

            “Josh, she doesn’t hate you!”

 

            “I’m pretty sure she would rather rip my head off than even _speak_ to me.”

 

            “Ashley wouldn’t hurt a _fly._ ”

 

            “Yeah but she’d definitely hurt _me._ ”

 

            Sam’s overwhelming patience with Josh wasn’t something to be praised.

 

            Patience was just a given when one were to become a friend of Joshua Washington. It wasn’t because of anything awful, it was simply because Josh felt a lot more calm around people who were patient with him. And a calm and collected Josh was very fun to be around.

 

            A fidgety and nervous Josh was not so fun but Sam never complained.

 

            What was the point in complaining? This was her boyfriend (well, hers and Chris’) and she wouldn’t even be sitting in this coffee shop at the ass crack of dawn to meet their red-headed friend for nothing. She just smiled at Josh, trying very hard to portray to him that everything was going to be fine, but every time the door of the shop opens he would snuggle closer to her side with a desolate whimper that breaks her heart. What made it more sad was that Josh would always hide the scars on his face even if he was already wearing a mask to cover it.

 

            Sam ran a comforting hand through Josh’s hair and kissed the crown of his head soundly. “Don’t you worry sunshine, I’m here and Chris is just a phone call away. If anything bad happens, we’ll be here.”

 

            Sometimes Josh needed constant reassurance that her and Chris were always going to be there for him. They were, before all the shit that happened at Blackwood Mountain, his closest friends. “The power of the blond duo will protect you, Joshua!” She teased while lightly digging her finger to his side, which caused him to giggle slightly. To her, that was the only sound that mattered right now. “See? You’re smiling already! You’ll be just fine.”

 

            “Sam?”

 

            She felt the brunette by her side tighten his grip on her red hoodie which meant that she didn’t even have to look up to know who said her name. But she had to look up.

 

            There Ashley stood, the warm lighting of the coffee shop and the soft glow of the sunrise outside the window enveloped her tiny frame. Her red hair, now much curlier than last year, was draped over her shoulders in neat, loose pigtails. “Is that?” Ashley didn’t even have to say the name for her to know who it was. As Sam nodded her head slowly, she saw the remorse and guilt build up in her friend’s eyes and she absolutely knew that Josh would be fine.

 

            When did she ever think Josh won’t be?

 

            It just takes a little time.

 

            Sam whispered soft reassurances into Josh’s ear for a few minutes and Ashley sat down in the seat across from them, fidgety and nervous herself. It took a few minutes but soon enough the brunette slowly got out of his hiding spot underneath Sam’s arm to look at the floor beneath Ashley’s feet. _Well it was a start._

 

            “Hey Josh… It’s been a long time.”

 

            Silence.

 

            “I…” Sam could see that Ashley was trying very hard to keep her voice from shaking. Her hands betrayed her otherwise calm demeanor.

 

            “I missed you, Josh. I missed you a lot.”

 

            That’s when Josh finally looked up and made eye contact with his friend. At least, Sam hopes that he still sees her as a friend. Another silence fell upon them but this time Josh was the one who broke it. “I…” Sam, unknowingly, held her breath as she waited for her brunette boyfriend to say something, _anything_ , to Ashley.

 

            With tears in his eyes, and some in her own, Josh reached out a shaky hand at Ashley. Sam smiled when her red-headed friend let out a relieved sob and took the offered hand. They sat there, their hands linked and their arms outstretched, for who knows how long before the fabric of Josh’s mask moved slightly. Sam knew it was because he was smiling.

 

            “I missed you too, Ash.”

* * *

            Sam watched with a smile, as Josh talked with Ashley in a more secluded corner of the coffee shop. She knew they needed to do this. She knew  _Josh_ needed to do this. She didn’t protest when Josh said he wanted to talk to Ashley alone. She didn’t protest when he asked for her to still keep a close eye. She definitely doesn’t feel like protesting as the two have a conversation about who knows what.

 

            Sam didn’t want to break the moment.

 

            Yet, she didn’t want to enjoy it alone.

 

            She didn’t know how many minutes, or hours, have passed until the door of the coffee shop opened again accompanied by the familiar sound of heavy boots against wood. She didn’t turn around. Instead, she just sat back in her chair calmly as Chris took a seat next to her. “So how’d it go, Sammy?”

 

            Sam looked at her fellow blond briefly before turning her gaze back to Josh and Ashley. They watched quietly, content in the silence the two grew accustomed to having with each other, as Josh did something they didn’t think he would do.

 

            He took off his mask.

 

            Chris sat up slightly and so did Sam but they immediately relaxed when Josh took one of Ashley’s hands and placed them gently on his scars and visible teeth. Her hands looked tiny against his face and her eyes widened only a little bit as she ran her soft fingers against his skin. The two blonds didn’t know what Ashley said to him but it honestly didn’t matter because whatever she said had Josh throwing his arms around her.

 

            “Sam?”

 

            She looked up at Chris with tears in her eyes and saw that he had a tiny shine within his own.

 

            “Yeah?”

 

            But she knew he didn’t have to say anything. They both knew. So Chris just placed his arm around Sam’s shoulder and hugged her close to his side.

 

            “He’ll be okay.” He kissed the top of her head and Sam sighed at the familiar warmth that coursed through her body at the gesture. It was something Chris did all the time to her and Josh. It told her that no matter what happened, she’d always have her boys. It told Josh that he’d always have his overprotective blonds.

 

            “ _We’ll_ be okay.”


End file.
